News + Events

Posted: 2013-05-31

John Coleman, founder of local advertising and marketing company the VIA Agency, spoke at MECA's Commencement Ceremony on May 11. Coleman started the agency without ever setting foot in an advertising firm. It's now an award-winning and highly innovative leader in the advertising industry.

He spoke about his logic-defying decisions and the importance of unplugging from the world to find creative inspiration and how to plug into yourself to find motivation and guidance. He shared his inspiring speech with Fast Company.

MECA to Host CREATIVE COMMUNITIES EXCHANGE 2013

Posted: 2013-05-30

WHEN

June 6 10:30 AM - 6.7.13, 6:00 PM

WHERE

Maine College of Art (event hub) and other surrounding locations in Portland, Maine

Join New England leaders to exchange innovative ideas, strengthen our network, and offer practical advice on building our creative communities. We will explore the creative assets of New England and learn how - through connections, influence, vision, leadership, and patience - the creative sector continues to breathe life and opportunity into the region.

Workshops will highlight “creative place-making” initiatives from cities and towns of ALL sizes throughout New England. Topics will include:

Physical and organizational infrastructure to attract and retain cultural assets (cultural plans, zoning, real estate development).Collaborations within the creative sector (cultural nonprofits, creative businesses, artists, entrepreneurs working together).Leadership from within or from outside the creative sector (cultural plan implementation, program development).Creative partnerships across sectors (“creative bedfellows” developing language to bridge gaps in understanding between arts, creative, government, etc.)Creative community in context (outcomes and effects of a thriving creative community)

WHO SHOULD ATTEND

Creative sector leader? Engage in creative place-making? Research or support the creative economy?

Participants are creative and cultural community leaders who work on creative economy initiatives in various sectors and types of organizations including cultural nonprofits, creative businesses, economic development, city planning, funders, researchers, and government.

This CCX will immerse participants in Portland's vibrant Arts District, a downtown area that has experienced a remarkable story of revitalization through a focus on the arts, culture, education, and creative inspiration. Locations include: Maine College of Art (Event hub), Community Television Network, Portland Stage, Space Gallery, and the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.

2013 Pace House Programming Announced

Posted: 2013-05-23

In 2007, artist Stephen Pace and his wife Palmina donated their Stonington home to Maine College of Art to use as an educational facility for the arts. This summer, the College will continue its programming of the space as an artist residency and as a gallery. The artist residency provides MECA alumni, faculty and staff with time and space to make their work. The schedule of artists this season includes Jude Valentine ’78 from June 3-28, faculty member Scott Peterman from July 1-15, Anne Ireland ’94 from July 21-27, Anthony Bragg ’07 from August 1-28 and Andrew Haviland ’12 and Emma Sampson ’11 from August 29 through September 4.

In addition to using the facility for the residency, the College opens parts of the home and gallery for the public to view selected works by Stephen Pace. Located at 90 Indian Point Road in Stonington, the gallery will be open to the public on Wednesday evenings from 5:00-7:00pm and on Saturdays from 10am-2pm while artists are in residence. The Stephen Pace Gallery is open from July through September for the 2013 season.

About Stephen Pace

Stephen was born in 1918 in Missouri and studied at the Art Students League in New York and the Academie de la Grande Chaumiere in Paris. He settled in New York and became an acclaimed artist known for his Abstract Expressionist work. In later years he devoted himself to more representational paintings and drawings. Stephen and his wife, Palmina, bought the Stonington house, a turn-of-the-century sea captain’s residence set on a ledge overlooking the Penobscot Bay, in 1943. They summered there for sixty-four years, until their relocation to Indiana.

Professor Scott Nash's "Blue Jay the Pirate" reviewed in the Guardian

Posted: 2013-05-20

Scott Nash, Assistant Professor and Illustration Program Chair, recently released his book the High Skies of Adventure by Blue Jay thePirate. The illustrated book was met with accolades from critics and young readers.The most recent review was published in the Guardian last week, in which the reviewer wrote:

"The plot is very well thought-through, with each chapter finishing at a vital moment! The characters are very amusing with lots of depth."

Posted: 2013-05-14

Photo by Gabriella Sturchio '12

Graduating senior Kristin Fitzpatrick from Portland and Daniel Anselmi from Belfast have been named the 2013 Monhegan Island artists-in-residence by the Monhegan Artists’ Residency Corporation. Thanks to a new initiative supported by the Maine Arts Commission, Melinda Campbell from Old Orchard Beach will take the first-ever art teacher residency offered by the program.Fitzpatrick, a recent graduate of the Maine College of Art printmaking department, will be on Monhegan June 1-July 5; Anselmi, an abstract painter, August 31-October 4; and Campbell, a teacher in the Auburn School Department, July 6-20.

This year’s fellows will lodge in two new studio spaces, Elva’s Old P.O. and the Shumaker Cottage, both of which feature outdoor working spaces overlooking the island’s distinctive landscape.

Now in its 23rd year, the Monhegan Artist’s Residency program is supported by individual donations and grants from the Quimby Family Foundation, the Lida P. Underhill Trust, and the Maine Arts Commission.

Portland, Maine - John Coleman, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of the The VIA Agency in Portland, Maine, which was named Ad Age’s 2011 Small Agency of the Year delivered the Commencement address and receive an honorary degree at Maine College of Art’s 102nd Commencement, at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 11 at the State Theatre at 609 Congress Street.

John Coleman founded The VIA Agency in 1993 and has since led the Portland, Maine-based agency to its current stature as one of the two best small agencies in America. He’s worked with organizations ranging from nonprofits to political movements as well as marketing giants like Samsung, Unilever, Disney, HBO, Discover, Welch’s, DuPont and others. John is a world traveler and yet a proud native of Maine, who holds both an M.B.A. and a B.S. in mechanical engineering. John has served on MECA’s board of trustees since 2001.

The college also confered honorary degrees on Betsy Evans Hunt and Christopher M. Hunt, MD.

Betsy Evans Hunt served on MECA’s board for 17 years and successfully led the recently concluded capital campaign to finish the consolidation of all academic and administrative services within Porteous. Betsy received her undergraduate degree in art history from Colorado College and went on to serve as Director of the Simon Lowinsky Gallery in San Francisco and as Manager of the Robert Mapplethorpe Studio in New York. She has worked as a sailmaker, cataloguer, curator, and interior designer. She holds a certificate from Sotheby’s American Art Program. She is the Executive Director and Owner of The Evans Gallery in Portland, which maintains and supports the photographic archives of Todd Webb.

Christopher M. Hunt, MD serves on the Board of Directors of the Roy A. Hunt Foundation. He received his B.A. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania and his M.D. from Duke University School of Medicine. He completed graduate research at the University of Pennsylvania, Institute for Environmental Medicine and his Internship and Residency in Family Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina. He has continued his study of promoting health with Postgraduate Studies in Alternative Medicine, Yoga, Acupuncture, Nutrition, Meditation, Stress Management, Death and Dying, Philosophy of Change, and Jungian Psychology.

Donald Tuski, Ph.D, president of MECA, will confer the honorary degrees. “It is a profound honor to recognize the accomplishments of these three distinguished individuals and welcome them to our alumni ranks,” said Tuski.

Located in the heart of the Portland Arts District, MECA offers a BFA degree in 10 studio majors, an MFA in Studio Arts, a Post­Baccalaureate in Art Education and continuing studies for youths and adults. The Institute of Contemporary Art at MECA and the Joanne Waxman Library are free and open to the public. For more information, see www.meca.edu or contact rdersimonian@meca.edu.

###

Professor Jamie Hogan Announces Release of "Here Come the Humpbacks!"

Posted: 2013-05-09

As the humpback whales head towards the Gulf of Maine, professor and Maine illustrator Jamie Hogan will be celebrating the big arrival of her new children's book with a free family event on June 1st, from 1:00 - 3:00 PM in the Rines Auditorium at the Portland Public Library.

Ever wonder how big these marvelous mammals are? Young readers will get a chance to stand beside (and inside) a life-sized humpback as part of an outreach program of the Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine. Educators from the museum will talk about the daily routine of Istar the Whale, including what she eats, the places she travels, and who she spends her time with. MECA Illustration Professor Jamie Hogan will present her illustrations for the new picture book Here Come the Humpbacks!

"I have always known that humpbacks were astounding creatures, but researching the illustrations for Here Come the Humpbacks! left me in awe of these mammals," said illustrator Jamie Hogan, "Now when I'm crossing Casco Bay, I imagine the families of whales swimming out in the deep. They are fascinating, intelligent, and utterly worth caring about."

The community is invited to attend the book launch and celebration:Saturday, June 1st, from 1:00 - 3:00 PMRines Auditorium at the Portland Public Library.